Rich, Attractive People Can Poach Your Partner, Scientists Say

Trending News: This Is The Kind Of Person Science Says Can Steal Your Girl

Long Story Short

If you want to steal someone else’s partner, just make sure you’re rich and good-looking, new research suggests.

Long Story

The process of deliberately seducing another person’s girlfriend or boyfriend – AKA mate poaching – can be successful if the target’s current partner isn’t as wealthy or attractive as the poacher, according to a study to be published next year.

Psychologists from Regent’s University London and Oakland University in the US, also found that the more committed the relationship you’re trying to break up, the more rich and successful you will need to be.

Researchers asked 125 men and 90 women to imagine they were in a relationship of increasing commitment, from dating to a long-term relationship, to living together and then being married.

Participants reported the minimum intelligence and wealth a poacher would need to be successful at each relationship stage.

The study, delightfully titled Don’t you wish your partner was hot like me?, concluded that, as predicted, the more committed the relationship, the more of a catch the poacher would need to be.

Dr Alastair Davies, Lecturer in Psychology at Regent’s University London and lead author of the research, said his research confirms that breaking up a relationship isn’t impossible.

“Our study indicates that poachers who are sufficiently wealthier and more attractive than the partner of the person being poached can successfully entice people into one-night stands, sexual affairs, or even new monogamous relationships,” he said.

“However, to achieve this, the extent to which poachers need to be wealthier and more attractive than the partner of the person being poached has to steadily increase in line with the commitment in an existing relationship – ranging from ‘just dating’ up to being married.”

Davies said that the study also found that if a person isn’t satisfied with their partner, and if they themselves are richer and more successful, they are therefore more likely to succumb to the advances of someone else.

“Our research also suggests that individuals with a mate-value higher than their partners are less likely to be satisfied with their existing relationship, making them more likely to succumb to the advances of a poacher.

“However, if partners in a couple have similar mate-values, they are less open to being infiltrated. This is because they are more likely to be satisfied with their existing relationship, and so less tempted by poachers, even those with a higher mate-value than either of them.” Sounds like dating someone out of your league may not be such a great idea after all.

Davies said the study’s findings could help relationship counsellors, who, could judge whether a relationship is likely to be successfully broken up by a poacher by assessing a couple’s individual success and wealth.